How we Got Rid of Cigarette Smoke Smell in our House
When we bought our house in 2012, it was what one might call a “fixer upper”… to put it lightly. The previous owner smoked inside the house for 21 years before we bought it and it certainly showed. The walls BLED nicotine - I’m not kidding! There was tar in all the carpets and the walls were stained yellow. Take a look at the picture below to see how bad the staining was and how far we’ve come!
We knew it was going to take a lot of work to make the house livable, but we were up for the challenge because the house had great potential. We googled potential remedies and found some good jumping off points, but most solutions seemed to more appropriate for situations a little less severe than our own. When I tell you we tried ALL the tricks of the trade, I mean it. We...
Cleaned the walls NUMEROUS times with various products (to this day, the smell of Fabuloso makes me nauseous)
Cleaned the kitchen surfaces multiple times.
Set out buckets of vinegar.
Washed the hard surface floors with buckets of vinegar.
Sprinkled our floors with baking soda.
Rented a carpet cleaner from Home Depot (at this point, we were still under the delusion that the carpets were salvageable... hah!)
Hired people to clean out our air ducts.
Left the windows and doors open over night and throughout the day.
Bleached everything in sight.
Sprayed air freshener on the walls (..... what? It was worth a shot.)
I probably left out a ton of other failed attempts, but the point is - nothing worked. We were starting to think we had made a terrible mistake by taking this on, but then the skies opened up and Joe saved the day. Two words, guys: Ozone Generator.
When he first suggested it to me, honestly, it sounded like a scam. This little machine is "guaranteed to rid your house of cigarette smoke within 7 days or your money back"? Yeah right… except it worked like freaking magic! Who knew?! We rented the most heavy duty machine they offered for the full 7 days from http://www.ozonesolutions.com.
Guys, the smell was GONE and we haven't dealt with it since. It cost us $180 for the full 7 days, and it was worth every penny. If you're planning on trying one of these, make sure you're able to stay out of your house for the entire time it's running. Joe and I had to run into the house a couple of times over the course of the week, and we made sure to hold our breath because this stuff is hardcore. It burns when you breathe it in.
The Ozone Generator was definitely the most effective thing we found to rid our house of the smell, but here’s a full list of the things I would highly recommend doing if you find yourself in a similar situation to us:
Rent an Ozone Generator
Remove carpets throughout (if applicable)
Wipe down the walls and apply Killz Primer to seal them before painting
Remove popcorn ceiling (if applicable)
Have your air ducts cleaned professionally
I swear, I never thought we’d see the last of the smell, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s worth it in the end!